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19 December 2015

The Long Distance Sprint

It is done. I have finished my admin credential---from start to finish in 6 months. I enrolled in a competency based program, so seat time wasn't a factor. I began on July 1...wrote a paper a day...and wrapped up all of my coursework on August 5. The next week, I sat for my Praxis exam and started collecting the 540 hours toward my internship. I've been interning in a school at least one day a week (and often two days) throughout the fall. And yesterday, I turned in the last of my portfolio assignments, my log of hours, and my professional growth plan.

It's been a long, hard, fall semester.

The credential was not an official condition for my being hired into my current job, but it was strongly suggested. And while at this point in my career, I have no particular interest in being a building principal, I have a long way to go before retirement. So, I will put this one on a shelf and, if the time and opportunity are right, I'll put it to work for me.

While losing 20% of my work week to an internship was difficult, I truly enjoyed being in an elementary school again. I had great mentors and fantastic teachers and para-educators to spend time with and learn from. I will miss being part of that.

But I've been very sick this fall, as well. Four months of treatment and three surgeries later, and I am still working on getting over things. I have another surgery next month...and possibly another later this spring. Juggling that into the mix of internship, classes, portfolio, and trying to do my regular job has not been simple.

A "year" means something different when you work in education. I suppose I am looking forward to 2016 for personal reasons, but in my professional life, this point in the year is only a pause in our marathon. Winter break is a time to catch my breath, and set some goals to accomplish between now and the end of the year. January will be a time to rededicate myself to my current role and maybe take on a new project here and there.

Best wishes to you all as you recover from getting the school year up and running...and make an effort to finish strong in the coming months. It's a marthon, not a sprint, after all.